3 W'S - WOOD, WORD AND SOMETHING WILD ART ADVENTURE

Welcome everyone!  This month Cheryl has given us a wonderful prompt for our art adventure!  Ah, what to create with wood, a word and something wild...

This one turned out to be surprisingly easy for me!  I have always wanted to do something with my favorite photo of my children when they were 5 and 7.  We had just moved here to Colorado and were excited about spending lots of time in Rocky Mountain National Park.  This was one of the first photos we took.  It was just waiting to be placed on a canvas:

I began by making a copy of this photo at the copy store.  I then transferred it onto Sticky Back Canvas.  You need a little patience with this technique when you use a larger photo, but it was so worth it!  It gives a bit of a "rustic" look to the photo.

 This piece was set aside while I worked on the main canvas.

The "wood" part of this piece is a Crafters Workshop woodgrain stencil that I used.  I applied gesso to the canvas via the stencil, moving the stencil around until I had the canvas covered, everywhere but where the photo canvas would be.

I used a baby wipe and DecoArt Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide Fluid Acrylic paint to color the canvas.  I then added a coat of DecoArt Burnt Umber Fluid Acrylic paint over the top.  I was pretty happy with the resulting color!

Now to add the embellishments to the canvas.  Of course we have to have trees since we live near the mountains.  I used Tim Holtz's Thinlits Woodlands die to cut out three trees.  You will notice that this tree die actually removes the inside of the tree.  I kept the inside parts and pieced them back together as I wanted a more solid tree.

I adhered the three trees to the left side of the canvas, knowing that the photo canvas would slightly cover part of the trees.  I then adhered the photo canvas to the larger canvas.

Now to add a word and some wildflowers.  The wildflowers are a lavender stamp by Impression Obsession.  I stamped it onto tissue paper using Wendy Vecchi's Fern archival ink.  I then carefully cut around the image and adhered it to the right side of the canvas using matte medium.  When dry, I cut apart some flowers from a stem I bought at a hobby store and placed the tiny purple blossoms over the lavender flower part of the stamped image.

I also added some white blossoms for variety.

To finish the piece I wrapped some gingham ribbon from Creative Impressions around the canvas, going along the base of the photo and adhering a word band from Idea-ology to the left side under the photo.  I adhered a few more blossoms over the ribbon on the right side.  The word seems to fit this scene perfectly as if says "Always be on the Lookout for Wonder".  My kids were constantly amazed by all the beautiful things they found in the park.

If you will notice, there is an elk happily grazing in the background of the photo.  She fits the "Wild" part of this adventure just as the Wildflowers do!  Now for another "wood" element, I placed a found branch along the top of the canvas photo.

I hope you like this piece and will have fun creating your own project using the 3 W's!  Happy Creating!

Susan

Winter Cheer

Hello everyone!  I thought I would get a last post in before Christmas!

I'm sure everyone is getting beautiful Christmas cards this time of year, but have you ever thought about sending Winter cards after the holidays to celebrate (yes, I said "celebrate") Winter and it's beauty?  After all, the kids and adults can go sledding, the skiers are thrilled here in Colorado and elsewhere and, let's face it, the snow is beautiful.  For those that aren't so crazy about Winter, a card can cheer them up and let them know you are thinking about them.  So, without further ado, here are several cards created by me and my talented co-design team member with B-Line Designs, Michelle Bodensteiner.  The first one is a beautiful sledding card by Michelle.

Isn't this a gorgeous card?  I love the fact that it is not a traditional rectangular card.  The oval shape showcases the sledders (Winter Fun HO20E) and creates such a beautiful frame.  Michelle doubled the scalloped frame (My Mind's Eye - this could be easily die cut as well) using pop dots which gives the scene a 3 dimensional look.  Michelle stamped the sledders with markers using the Direct-to-Rubber technique and then added some color pencil to the children' shoes.

For added texture on the children' image, Michelle stamped part of the pine tree small (HO103D) so that it looks like the little girl is holding it.  Then the Bough Duo (HO149F) was stamped randomly around the edges of the scene with green and red markers.

I love all the little details Michelle used to create such a lovely scene!  Even the deer on the side of the card is a stamp.  It is from the Gift Tag cube (HO106F) and is stamped in brown.  Then she used a Wink-A-Stella pen to add sparkle to the deer!  To finish the card, she used two snowflakes from Jolee's and lots of lovely crystals placed in the scallops.  Even the deer has a crystal tail!

This beautiful piece would also make a fabulous Christmas tree ornament or a tie-on tag for gifts simply by adding a ribbon loop to the top.  So versatile!

I created another winter scene using Dream Catcher (HO145F):

The card is a combination pop-up/shaker card that is fun to make.  I stamped the Dream Catcher scene with Navy ink and colored her outfit with color pencils.  Using foam tape and acetate I created the shaker box within the pop up.

I used the snowflake Border (HO141E) for the sides of the card and navy blue ink.  I punched multiple white snowflakes for the top and bottom borders of the card.  To finish the inside of the card, I stamped the word "Believe" (HO116C) with black ink.

Here is the front of the card:

I used the Pine Tree Small (HO103D), stamping them twice.  I had previously made a (snow mask) with plain copy paper to give the scene a little dimension.  To finish I stamped Let it Snow (HO143C) with navy blue ink, went around the edges with blue ink and finally added some ultra fine glitter to the snow.

Hope you have enjoyed these winter cards.  For more information regarding the stamps that where used, please stop by www.blinedesigns.com.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2016.  Stay warm and enjoy Winter!

Susan

Altered Surfaces

We have arrived at the next to last challenge - No. 33 - for the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge!  Say it isn't so!  I have been having so much fun with these challenges that I hate to say goodbye to them!

The current challenge, Altered Surfaces, can be found on Page 45 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book.  It's never too late to get your autographed copy which can be found here.  Tim and Mario are also providing a fabulous prize package to the winner chosen by the Curiosity Crew.

The wonderful folks at Inspiration Emporium also have a generous $50.00 shopping spree just waiting for the randomly chosen winner of this challenge. You will love their product selection and customer service!

Now all of us on the Curiosity Crew want you to participate, so head on over to Linda Ledbetter's site here for all the rules!

Here is my project:

A lovely blog comment was made that she enjoyed my use of family photos in past blog challenge posts.  It made be realize that I hadn't incorporated any for awhile! Time to dig out more photos! 

I have always wanted to do something with the above hilarious photo of my mother (center) with her best buddies, Pat (left) and Ginger (right).  She has tried to convince me that this photo was taken in Wenatchee, Washington at the carnival during the Apple Blossom Festival.  However, I know better as I have this photo that shows what happened to these naughty girls:

Now for the challenge piece.  I chose to alter the large number 3 as well as the arrow.  I thought the technique would be most effective on larger pieces.  The number 3 is from Idea-ology Alpha Parts  Numeric and the Arrow is from Alpha Parts Framed.  I attempted to use the technique on the framed sentiment, also from the Alpha Parts Framed, however, I think it is much more effective on the more solid pieces.  I can't tell you how I accomplished this look as you have to find out yourself by turning to page 45 of the book, however, here are close-ups of the two altered surfaces:

I began my project by placing patterned paper cards from Idea-ology Pocket Cards behind the photo and adhering them to my Burlap canvas (also from Idea-ology)  I then adhered  a red strip cut from Tim's Sizzix Alterations Frameworks Courtyard die so that it would peek out from behind my photo as well as another card from the Pocket Cards.   I adhered my enlarged photo over the paper and die and added some Film Strip Ribbon on either side of the photo.   This is how it looked at that point:

Now I began to add more details to the canvas, including a Flash Card with the word "Friend" (I added an "s" from Alpha Parts to the end) from Flash Cards Elementary, Two Remnant Rubs from the Numbers Sheet, several pieces from the Ephemera Pack (Thrift Shop and Expedition), some tiny playing cards from my stash and a Word Band.  I threaded Correspondence Paper String through the Word Band and adhered blue eyelets.  The Paper String was wrapped around to the back of the canvas.  I did the same thing on the right side of the piece as well.  Here are some close ups of the details:

I used Distress Paints to add color to the Alpha Parts Framed "Good Times".  The red ticket is an actual raffle ticket and the other two are from the Ephemera Packs.

One last look at the finished project:

Looking at this piece in my studio will definitely make me smile!

Ok, now it's your turn to create a project using Altered Surfaces!  I hope you have as much fun as I did with this project!  My mother will either laugh or be horrified that I chose these photos!

Susan

Fabulous Frosted Film

Here we are at Challenge Number 32, just two more to go!  I confess I had not used this product before, but I love it now!  You may find this challenge on Page 59 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book which still can be purchased here.  This challenge is once again sponsored by the generous Tim and Mario who are providing a fabulous prize package to the winner of this challenge! Head on over to Linda Ledbetter's site for all the details and enter!

One randomly chosen winner will also win a $25.00 shopping spree to The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  Good luck to all!

Now for the technique.  Here is my latest challenge project:

I decided to use a canvas this time which features beautiful die cut flowers and frosted film butterflies.  I used a sentiment from Tim Holtz's Stampers Anonymous Life Quotes that I felt would blend well with the "dreamy quality" created as a result of blending the die cut butterflies with the  frosted film.

I started off by creating my butterflies. I used Tim Holtz's Sizzix Butterfly Duo die set.  (I obviously didn't use the included texture fade).  You will have to go to Page 59 to see how I accomplished this technique.  Here are the finished butterflies:

I then decided I wanted some texture to my canvas, so I started with a coat of white gesso on the canvas.  When it was dry, I added Wendy Vecchi's white embossing paste through Tim's Flourish Stencil.   Finally, I added some watered down Tumbled Glass Distress Paint to the background and then some white Picket Fence Distress paint to the raised surfaces.  This is how the prepared canvas looked:

Now I was quite unhappy with myself when I first created this texture pattern.  I originally had a "white on white" pattern, but decided that it was too "white" for my butterflies to really show up well.  I tossed around the idea of starting all over and painting the canvas with Tumbled Glass Distress paint first and then adding the white paste, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  One of my mottos is "there is a way to fix anything" so I was determined to fix it.  It ended up being easier than I thought to use white Picket Fence Distress Paint to highlight the raised surface.  The Tumbled Glass background was watered down a bit so that the background wasn't too dark.

I then cut a number of flowers from my absolute favorite Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Tattered Floral Garland as well as some greenery from the Alterations Spring Greenery die.  I colored the flowers by blending Picked Raspberry and Squeezed Lemonade Distress inks.  When dry, I assembled them and added Buttercup and Petal Pink Liquid Pearls to the flower centers.  The greenery was colored with Peeled Paint and Gathered Twigs Distress inks.

I laid out the flowers and greenery on the canvas until I was happy with the layout.

Unfortunately, even though I lightened the background a tad, the colors seemed to vary each time of the day I photographed the piece.  It is actually a little lighter in color.

Now I wondered how I was going to stamp my sentiment on the canvas.   I certainly couldn't do it the traditional way due to the texture.  Then I remembered the technique I learned from Cheryl (who learned it from Candy), etc. of stamping on white tissue paper, tearing around the sentiment and using Matte Medium to adhere it to the background with a paint brush.  Worked like a charm!  The tissue blends right into the background!

Finally, I adhered all the flowers and greenery as well as the butterflies to the canvas using Matte  Medium.  Once again here is the finished project:

See what I mean about the variation in background color!

Here it is on a darker background and different light (even though it is really a slightly lighter blue):

You may have noticed I added antennae to the butterflies before I adhered them to the canvas.  I achieved this by cutting two small pieces of black linen thread and creating a knot on either end.  I then folded each in half and adhered them to the back of the butterflies' bodies.

All of us here at the CC3 Challenge are looking forward to seeing your submissions!  You all are such talented artists who have blown us away with  your creativity!  Let's see more of it!

Susan

B Line Designs Happy Dance!

As you can tell by the title of this post, I am doing the Happy Dance now that I have received the new stamps from B Line Designs!  They are all from the brand new Vintage Spring supplement!

Beverly has knocked it out of the park with this one!  I love them all!  All of the new images blend so well with the wonderful selection of existing ones - lots of nature themes, thoughtful sentiments as well as a few architectural stamps!

I love the new Collaged Butterfly!   

Here a few samples Beverly created with the new images.  There are two pages of lovely full color artwork!

  

I couldn't wait to play with the new stamps!  I used several of my favorites, including the Beehives and Honeycomb I used on my project for the current CC3 Challenge "Alcohol Ink Ombre Technique"  at Linda Ledbetter's site.  I enjoyed this technique so much that I created another one  as well.  

When you pull the tab on this second card, the wings actually flap.  A dear friend of mine gave me a commercial card that incorporated this feature and said "Susan, I know you can figure out how this was done"  She was right - here it is!    I also used the Climbing Vine Duo as well as a sentiment from the Live Each Moment cube.  

 I went on to create one more card using the same mechanism and the new Botanical Cabbage Rose image from B Line's current supplement:

I watercolored the rose and the butterfly on this card.

There is so much more to see on B Line's website at blinedesigns.com !  Head on over to see all the new images from Vintage Spring along with previous supplements.  You'll be glad you did!

Susan

Suffering in San Diego?

Well, I left my family behind in Colorado to come to California for some relaxation, to help my parents if they need it and to work on some new classes at Rocky Mountain Memories. My parents have lived here for over 40 years. The vegetation grew in beautifully many years ago so that now there are beautiful flowers, singing birds, a pool and peace and quiet.



-
This is the hillside in Winter. If you look closely you can see the hummingird feeder. There are tons of them!





This is what it looks like in Spring/Summer.
Right now the orange tree is producing tons of oranges!





I will be making a trip to my favorite store close by in Pt. Loma, Paper Tales later this week and hope to blog about it.

Anyone feel sorry for me?

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad